Death by Exactitude / Malicious Compliance

During Barack Obama’s presidency, opponents sometimes used his middle name, with emphasis (“Barack Hussein Obama!”) because it sounded Arabic and he shared it with Saddam Hussein. They weren’t technically wrong, but they wouldn’t have done it if his middle name was “Robert.”

During labor disputes, a worker tactic is known as a “rule-book slowdown,” where workers follow every rule and regulation to the letter, with the intent to slow productivity as much as possible. They defined this by claiming that they’re “just following the rules.”